Ethan Garbers of Corona del Mar picks up yards Friday night. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, for OC Sports Zone)
Corona del Mar quarterback Ethan Garbers threw a school record-setting seven touchdown passes to lead the Sea Kings to an impressive 62-14 Sunset League victory over Newport Harbor Friday evening before a capacity crowd at Newport Harbor High.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo
CdM improved to 7-1-1 and 3-0-1 in league and remains tied with Los Alamitos for first-place in league. The Sea Kings won the coveted Battle of Bay Bell for the sixth consecutive season. The Bell was first awarded to the winner of the annual clash in 1963.
The Sailors fell to 3-4-1 and 0-4.
Garbers completed 16 of 28 passes for 290 yards and threw TD passes of one, two, 33, 22, 50, 57 and 16 yards to break the CdM single game record for TD passes, a record held by his brother Chase Garbers, who is now a redshirt freshman at Cal.
Garbers broke the record when he connected with Bradley Schlom on a 16-yard TD pass late in the third quarter. Garbers has thrown 33 TDs this season.
“It feels awesome,” said Garbers. “I think my brother would tell me that I should have broken it in the first half, but seriously I give all of the credit to my offensive line and my receivers. We’re on a roll now and we have to make a run in the playoffs.”
3 minutes into the second half and we have pushed the score to 48-7. Kings Krew is still rocking. @OCSportsZone @ocvarsity @SoCalSidelines @MAlvarez02 #ocvfans #6Peat pic.twitter.com/CG4GQbu3bu
— CDM ATHLETICS (@CDM_ATHLETICS) October 20, 2018
Sea Kings coach Dan OShea was pleased with his team’s performance.
“Our team has committed to executing on each play throughout the game,” said OShea. “That’s out standard and that’s how we measure success and that is our focus. Anything less is unacceptable. Tonight, after the first quarter, I thought we played well, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
The Sea Kings will finish their regular season with a game against Huntington Beach next Friday while the Sailors will play its season finale against Fountain Valley.
After a sluggish opening possession, CdM’s offense shifted into high gear and was unstoppable.
Midway through the first quarter, Garbers guided the Sea Kings on a nine-play, 82 yards scoring drive that was capped off by a one-yard TD pass to John Humphreys giving CdM a 7-0 lead. Humphreys caught seven passes and scored two TDs. Following a Newport Harbor turnover, Garbers tossed a short touchdown pass to Max Farzine upping the lead to 14-0 with 3:53 left in the opening quarter.
Garbers then led the Sea Kings to three touchdowns in less than two minutes in the second quarter as CdM blew the game wide open. Garbers fired a 33-yard scoring strike to Mark Redman and then the junior QB added TD passes of 22 and 50 yards to Jason Vicencio and Redman increasing the Sea Kings lead to 34-0.
“Ethan made some awesome throws and we’re getting better each week,” Redman said.
CdM’s defense, led by Ethan Jajonie and Ari Froehlich, sacked Sailors QB Cole Lavin three times in the opening half and helped keep Newport Harbor’s offense in check in the first half.
“We blitzed a lot tonight and they couldn’t handle it,” said Jajonie. “Every part of our team played well and we have to remain focused as we continue.”
Lavin, a sophomore QB, threw a three-yard TD pass to Rory Mccroy late in the second quarter to cut the lead to 34-7 at the break.
Lavin injured his collarbone as he was tackled late in the first half and did not return. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Andrew Testa played the second half at quarterback for the Sailors.
“We’re a young team and we’re starting a sophomore quarterback,” said Newport Harbor Coach Peter Lofthouse. “We’ve been inconsistent this season on offense and defense but I’m proud of them because they never quit.”
Mccrory led Newport Harbor with seven catches and two TD receptions.
STATS
NH 00 07 00 07 – 14
CDM 14 20 21 07 – 62
RUSHING: NH, Keliikoa 4-17. CdM, Garbers 5-44, Schlom 2-45.
PASSING: NH, Lavin 11-21-0, 80 yards, TD, Testa 10-19-1, 68 yards, TD. CdM, Garbers 16-28-0, 290 yards, 7 TDs.
RECEIVING: NH, Mccrory 7-44, Goltz 4-67. CdM, Humphreys 7-104, Redman 2-83.
-Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone
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